NSW Property Industry confidence dips further

The latest ANZ/Property Council Survey released today shows the NSW property industry has once again dropped in confidence, going from the state with the strongest sentiment to the weakest.

NSW property industry confidence has dropped seven index points from 141 to 134 over the quarter and five index points over the 12 months to September 2018.

Capital growth expectations for the residential sector have also nosedived, contributing to the lowered overall industry confidence.

“The NSW industry is seeing a softening in confidence after a period of huge growth and investment. It’s important to note that there is still a healthy outlook for capital value expectations in both the office and industrial sectors, and staff hiring expectations; yet we must look at what can be done to stabilise industry confidence,” Property Council NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said today.

“In NSW, the property industry has experienced a significant increase in the number of levies and taxes that need to be paid to develop in this state – this will eventually influence the confidence of the market and I think we are beginning to see this.

“Earlier this month we saw a report from NSW Treasury, released under an FOI, warn of the potential consequences of increasing foreign investment taxes including lower housing supply, a drop in Government revenue and a negligible impact on home prices; we must be cautious of the potential effect of some of the levers we are pulling.

“We need to see policies that will strengthen the housing pipeline and enable housing where we most need it. A softening residential sector will have flow-on effects to housing affordability, employment and government revenue.

“The most recent State Budget contained little for property, we need to see more of a policy focus to ensure NSW continues to attract investment,” Ms Fitzgerald concluded.